Letters

Many of us here in Virginia have experienced the sadness of a loved one’s illness, or realized that the aging process has taken a toll on his or her health and ability to function. It’s a significant life adjustment when one’s body and condition deteriorates, requiring you to rely on the skilled care of others to remain healthy.

I believe Ken Cuccinelli presents the best plan to make Virginia stronger and a more competitive place to work and do business.
Ken’s plan to improve the economy and create jobs involves common sense approaches that are of extreme importance to getting Virginia back to the place we need to be.
One of the most important changes Ken plans to do is to lower corporate income tax from 6 percent to 4 percent. This is a small change that will have a huge impact on Virginia business.

Both the Sept. 6 article on the opening of a hookah bar in Hillsville and the subsequent Todd Jennings column on Sept. 13 failed to mention that hookah or waterpipe smoking is linked by several scientific studies to cancers and heart disease.
The secondhand smoke from the hookah is severe and constant, and one of the national “homes” of traditional hookah smoking, Turkey, has banned public smoking including hookah use in public places because of the lethal health hazards for everyone who breathes.

Early in November, Virginia will elect a new governor.
There are two questions that the voters must ask about the candidates. First, is he a man of integrity? Second, does he have viable solutions to important problems?
These are the criteria we must use to examine political candidates. So how is the Republican candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, doing in these areas?

I’m curious to know how many veterans may be unaware that their doctor may be a contracted doctor, and not an employee of the Veterans Administration.
I’m seeking to find other veterans who are having issues or concerns, or have had a problem with the VA not paying for claims to go to local emergency rooms.

It was almost a year ago that Supervisor Bob Martin proposed a State Police investigation to determine whether there had been a conflict of interest in Carroll County Administrator Gary Larrowe’s land dealings near what is now Wildwood.
Three newly-elected supervisors voted for the investigation, three holdovers from the old board voted against, and the proposal died.
Now comes an announcement that Mr. Larrowe asked for an opinion, rendered by Dickenson Commonwealth attorney Joshua Newberry, who determined that there had been no conflict.

There is a Mended Little Hearts group forming in the Galax area.
Mended Little Hearts is a nonprofit organization that provides hope, caring and support to families who have children with heart defects and heart disease. Families are often devastated when they learn that their child has a heart defect, and Mended Little Hearts is there to let them know that they are not alone.

I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to several people, groups, and organizations for all the services they provided to the Hillsville Police Department during the 2013 VFW Labor Day Gun Show and Flea Market:
VFW Grover King Post 1115 for help with preparation and planning.
The Hundley family, Lacy Bowman and family, and Glenn Jackson and family.
Mayor Greg Crowder, Town Manager Travis Jackson, and Engineer Steve Bowman who were personally out in the trenches making sure everyone was in compliance with all ordinances and procedures.

I have been retired from Duke University for six years and have lived in the Galax area since.
I took a job at Galax High School in transportation as a part-time bus driver, and with the high school as a substitute teacher.
During my tenure at Galax Schools it has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my career. The professionalism of the school staff and the respect from the students is outstanding.
The staff was always caring and concerned on how the students should respect everyone on campus and outside of campus.

The weather was perfect and the Grayson County Fiddler’s Convention went off without a hitch, until we had transformer problems late Saturday night.
The Elk Creek Volunteer Fire Department does a great deal of planning for the fiddler’s convention prior to the event, but it is all of our community volunteers that help make it happen. The Elk Creek Volunteer Fire Department is truly a community fire department.